Could you be the next surviorman?

H

hannibal lecter spyderco

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Mar 29, 2001
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Well, according to the grapevine Les, is about to quit the series. Lets assume that this is it for him. While I'm not one of the die hard fans, I wanted to throw out the following question to the member of this forum. Could you replace Les, on surviorman. If so why if not why not? As for myself, I could match him or out do him in bushcraft and what he has done on the series minus his knowledge of edible plants. This area is my greatest downfall, if there weren't any game to trap or fish to catch, I would die. My ability to recognize edible plants or useful plants are pretty limited. I would highly recommend les's new survivor book.
 
Les was a junior when he learned the stuff we did, and while I am old, our teacher is even older and still alive. Even old Bert wouldn't have been able to do the things Les has, and nor could I. Les cannot be replaced, and if I was to try myself, I would fail miserably... even if the good lord shaved 30 years off me, I'd still look like a goon in the wake of Les Stroud. Les is one of the most dedicated hardasses I have ever seen, and I would be surprised if anyone at all is able to fill his shoes in the near or distant future. The thing with him, is he has no ego, he is a calm and fun man, capable of remaining sane in even the most hostile scenarios. Les' brain is what makes him so much better than the typical lot; the man is swift as can be!!
 
The REAL Commander said:
Les was a junior when he learned the stuff we did, and while I am old, our teacher is even older and still alive. Even old Bert wouldn't have been able to do the things Les has, and nor could I. Les cannot be replaced, and if I was to try myself, I would fail miserably... even if the good lord shaved 30 years off me, I'd still look like a goon in the wake of Les Stroud. Les is one of the most dedicated hardasses I have ever seen, and I would be surprised if anyone at all is able to fill his shoes in the near or distant future. The thing with him, is he has no ego, he is a calm and fun man, capable of remaining sane in even the most hostile scenarios. Les' brain is what makes him so much better than the typical lot; the man is swift as can be!!
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Not to take anything away from Les, but what he doing early settlers did as well. Its a skilled like anything else, I'm sure that there are members on this board who could actually do what les is doing.
 
Keep in mind, Les isnt just doing bushcraft/survival skills. He's also filming the whole thing, and he's doing it with extreme skill. I couldnt do it, because I do not have the knowledge of video journalism that he does, and my show would look stupid. The shots wouldnt be as dramatic, I probably wouldnt know how to use all the equipment, and further, I wouldnt want to haul an extra 60 lbs. of gear around on me. So, no. I dont think I could duplicate what Les does.
 
Les' greatest skill is his filmmaking. He get's help from survival experts in each climate to help him on which ideas and survival techniques he wants to present.

If you could learn how to film and play harmonica, you could do what he does.;)

Les will be missed at my household, but I can see how it would take a toll on you doing that show.
 
I love Les... as an amrchair bushman it's easy to say I could do better, or I would've done a or b..... but Le is the real deal he and his wife lived for an entire year in the candian bush with no tools...they made there own stone axes and knives...while he may not demonstrate such bush mastery in his show.. the guy is at a high level...I can watch my Shihan Spar and think I can do pretty good against him, but when I'm on the mat my ideas change real quick...just offering an opinion
 
I get cranky in the morning when I don't have my coffee by a certain hour, there is no way I'm shlepping 50 lbs of gear for a week without a decent meal. I also will not eat any bugs, worms or animal organs unless I "really" had to, even then it's a stretch. It takes a lot of energy to build shelters, trap and hunt food, lug gear, and hike for days. He does all of this without a decent nights sleep (have to wake up every 20 minutes to stoke the fire), on little food if any, limited water sources, and sometimes in pouring rain. He has to worry about predators in many of his locations from bears, mountain lions, snakes to creepy crawlys in the jungle. I could pull it off for a day or two, but by day three, without a decent nights sleep, a hot meal and a hot shower, I'd be one salty mofo. Of course if they were willing to pay me six or seven figures to do this I may find the will, but I honestly don't know if I'd make it out there.
 
Hell yes I could do it. Have a safety net near by, make big bucks to do what you love, travel to exotic locations, man that would be outstanding!
 
No way I am lugging 60lbs of camera gear back and forth all day to get a good shot. We can critique all we want and maybe we can make the shelters and traps he makes, but can we film it and produce it with half the skill as Les..........
 
As long as my demographic doesn't mind watching me take survival naps and do survival whittling while drinking survival tea, then I could definitely do it. At least 50 lbs of camera gear is motivation to follow the first rule of survival and 'stay put'!!

That, and I'm too ugly to be on national television... :D
 
I like to eat too well in the outdoors to undergo such an adventure.

I do know that even the most basic food can transform itself into the most amazing cuisine when you sit down after a long trek or climb, but I'm not willing to find out what a single cashew tastes like after humping many pounds of gear umteen times just to get a shot. He's a real man to do what he's done.
 
I'd like to see them get Ray Mears or someone of his caliber to take Les' place.
 
I'll tell you what I could do that I think a lot of people couldn't do: I can go without sleep and food and deal with a lot of pain.

That's what I think a lot of the armchair people overlook: Les is doing the bushcraft and the film production stuff while exhausted and hungry. It's very easy to do all that stuff when you're just out hanging around in the bush for fun. It's not so easy to do when you're cold, tired, and hungry.

So I would say that I'm no better at survival skills than Les and probably not as good. But where I think I could equal him for sure is in dealing with the conditions and making the calls, because that's the stuff I'm good at.
 
RescueRiley said:
I love Les... as an amrchair bushman it's easy to say I could do better, or I would've done a or b..... but Le is the real deal he and his wife lived for an entire year in the candian bush with no tools...they made there own stone axes and knives...while he may not demonstrate such bush mastery in his show.. the guy is at a high level...I can watch my Shihan Spar and think I can do pretty good against him, but when I'm on the mat my ideas change real quick...just offering an opinion
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Hey Riley, that is what they started out to do, but later relied on steel axe and saw. There might have been other things (I just rewatched it a couple of weeks ago) but I can't recall. :o

I'm not taking anything away from Les and it should be noted that he is more skillful and knowledgable than how he is portrayed in the series.

Doc
 
My body could not withstand the abuse. I think I would die .

I probably could have survived when I was younger but no way I could have lugged camera equipment and film it to. There are some episodes where I think I could secure food better than what Les did.

Coincidentally, my name is Les.
 
There are probably many people that are just as, if not more skilled than Stroud, probably some even here on this board. That's not what makes the show. Stroud's personality, humor, and demeanor are what has drawn the audience he has. Anyone can watch someone use a bow drill or rig a snare. However unless you are a wilderness junkie (as most of us are which is why this is kind of a skewed conversation) it could be like watching paint dry.

Stroud gets the people that wouldn't otherwise be interested because he creates a human interest story as well as a bushcraft show. Thats what pulls in the regular folks.
 
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